Eugenie Bouchard's Australian Open fairytale continues, outlasts Ana Ivanovic to reach semis
Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard celebrates after victory in her women’s singles match against Serbia’s Ana Ivanovic on day nine at the 2014 Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 21, 2014
She might still be very young, but she is coming of age at the 102nd Australian Open with a remarkable sequence of composed performances. In yet another come from behind effort, Eugenie Bouchard outlasted the resurgent Ana Ivanovic 5-7, 7-5, 6-2 in a nearly two and a half hour contest to become only the second Canadian to reach the semi-finals of a Grand Slam tournament. Cheered on by her adoring army of fans, the 19-year-old Bouchard will battle Li Na in the semifinals on Thursday.
The first set turned out to be an engaging two-part act. Bouchard made a confident start, holding to love with a stinging forehand winner and Ivanovic responded with an equally easy hold to set the tone for an eagerly awaited match. The Serbian pushed her opponent to break point in the third game, but the young Canadian held her ground with an ace and a forehand volley winner to keep the set on serve at 2-1.
Bouchard enjoyed her first break point in the sixth game, but a pair of service winners split by a forehand error from the Canadian allowed Ivanovic to stay even at 3-3. That was to be the end of civility as the set transformed into a break-fest as the two women tore into each other’s wilting service games. Ivanovic probed for an edge in the seventh game and earned the first break of the match when Bouchard failed to control a backhand volley. It set off a sequence of five straight broken games, before Ivanovic found an elusive hold in the final game of the first set.
After being competitive for long, Bouchard slipped into a string of errors in the 12th game – making three in a row to offer set points to Ivanovic. The Serbian failed to take the first when she sent a forehand wide, but Bouchard eased her need when she failed to control her shot on the next point to end the first set. Ivanovic took better advantage of the second serve, winning 10 of 15 points to keep Bouchard pinned back time and again. The Canadian also made 18 unforced errors, including three double faults to surrender the initiative to the Serbian.
If Ivanovic expected her young opponent to wilt under the pressure of being behind with so much at stake, she was in for a rude shock. Bouchard might only be playing her first Grand Slam quarterfinal, but she was barely affected by the stage or the situation. With Ivanovic serving to get even at 1-2, Bouchard made her opponent pay for a couple of errors with a stinging backhand winner on the run to break serve in the second set. Ivanovic had an easy volley to force deuce in the next game, but she rushed it into the net to fall behind 1-4.
Ivanovic was looking to find her way back into the contest, and she stepped in on a second serve to force a backhand error off Bouchard to push the game to deuce. Bouchard flailed a forehand wide to offer break point to the 14th ranked Ivanovic, but she spurned the chance with an ugly backhand that flew off the court.
As the game stretched into an eighth minute, Ivanovic delivered a deep return and followed it with a forehand winner to force the game back to deuce. Eventually it took six deuce points and an inch perfect forehand crosscourt winner from Ivanovic, bang on the inside corner, to set up the decisive game point. Bouchard sent a forehand long on the next point to surrender the break back to Ivanovic after a sapping 11 minute game.
Even as Ivanovic took a lengthy medical timeout, probably to tend to her aching groin, the exuberant Genie Army took the cue to burst into another round of chanting and cheering for their young heroine. And Eugenie responded in kind, when they got back on court, stretching Ivanovic on the backhand side before pummeling a brutal forehand winner to earn three break points in the eighth game. She broke at love to find herself serving for the set to try and force the match into a decisive third set.
Ivanovic showed great intent with a stinging return winner to begin the next game and Bouchard threw in a double fault, her third of the match, to fall to 0-30. A forehand error from Bouchard set up two break points for the Serbian. Ana got the set back on serve when Bouchard sailed a backhand wide on the second point, but she still had to hold serve to stay in the set at 4-5. Despite repeatedly struggling with the ball toss and her first serve, Ivanovic worked away to an easy hold and the set was even now at 5-5.
Looking for the all important break in the 11th game, Ivanovic sought to attack, but Bouchard was up to the task as she held her own for a 6-5 lead. The Serbian was clearly struggling with her movement at the baseline and a tame forehand crashed into the net to offer set point to the teenage Canadian. The struggling Ivanovic threw in a double fault to gift the set to allow Bouchard to get even at one set each. Bouchard was far more attacking in the second set, winning 10 of 12 points at the net to work her way back into the match.
Suddenly things were beginning to get really even for both the players. If Bouchard hadn’t been this far ever, Ivanovic had never in her career dealt with three straight matches that went the distance in a Grand Slam tournament. The world No.14 was in trouble early in the final set, but saved both break points in the second game before holding with an ace and a service winner. The break did not take long though as Ivanovic dumped a couple of backhands at the bottom of the net to surrender the fourth game.
Bouchard showed great composure at 30-30 in the next game to hold serve and consolidate her control at 4-1. The WTA newcomer award winner last season was suddenly beginning to look like a seasoned pro. Ivanovic survived a break point in the sixth game to stay in the match at 2-4, but the unfazed Canadian held serve in the next game to reach within a game of a place in the last four.
Ivanovic offered her a match point when she sailed a forehand long at deuce in the next game and Bouchard wasted no further time. She struck an elegant forehand down the line winner to clinch the match and soar into the last four of the Australian Open. In doing so, she emulated Carling Bassett, who reached the same stage of the US Open back in 1984. Bouchard struck 47 winners during the match and won an impressive 19 of 24 points on her forays to the net underlining her ability to take the game to her opponents.
While Ivanovic will ponder upon her first loss this year and second straight Grand Slam defeat (she lost also in the second round of Wimbledon last year) to the teenager, Bouchard will prepare for another promising encounter against Li Na. The two of them met in Montreal, 2012, but the Canadian was just a fledgling rookie at the time and Li won in straight sets. The 19-year-old though has rocketed more than 100 spots on the ranking since January last year, when she was only ranked 147th in the world.